Panama declares emergency after powerful quakes

LA VILLA DE LOS SANTOS, Panama — The government of Panama declared a state of emergency on Saturday as the aftershocks of two powerful earthquakes that roiled the country shook communities for hours.

Officials did not attribute any deaths to the quakes but reported damage in all 10 of Panama's provinces and two indigenous territories.

The magnitude 7.7 and 6.6 earthquakes on Friday toppled buildings near the epicenter and prompted evacuations across the Central American country. Seismologists recorded more than 100 aftershocks, including ones measuring magnitude 5.8, 5.5 and 5.2.

The earlier quake, also felt in neighboring Colombia, was centered about 10 kilometers southwest of the remote community of Pitaloza Arriba, in the central province of Herrera, according to the United States Geological Survey. It struck at a depth of 10 kilometers.

Presidential Minister Juan Carlos Orillac announced the emergency during a news conference in the capital, Panama City. He said homes, schools, healthcare facilities, roads and hotels were among the damaged facilities.

Malitzie Rivera, deputy director of the National Civil Protection System, told reporters that the state had reports of 27 people with injuries, ranging from minor to moderate.

Most of the damage was concentrated in the central provinces of Veraguas, Herrera, Cocle and Los Santos.

The civil protection agency tallied roughly 420 homes and about the same number of public schools damaged. It also reported that seven hotels, at least 13 churches and nine bridges were affected by the earthquakes.

In La Villa de Los Santos, about 64 kilometers northeast of the epicenter, homes and a historical Catholic church collapsed. People who spent the night on the streets were waiting for the government's guidance on what to do next.

"We've been here since 1 pm yesterday; we haven't moved," Tony Jimenez, whose home partially collapsed, said while sitting with relatives under a tent. "It was a terrible thing. I can tell you with absolute certainty that in my 90 years, I had never experienced anything like it. It was intense — truly intense."

Officials did not report any missing people on Saturday but said some communities remained cut off because of landslides and road damage.

On Isla Canas, off the Pacific coast of Los Santos, about 300 people were evacuated because of rising sea levels and rough surf.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Saturday that China expresses sympathies to the Panamanian government and people in the affected region.

As of now, there is no report of casualties involving Chinese nationals in the earthquake, the spokesperson said.

The Foreign Ministry and the Chinese embassy in Panama will continue to closely monitor the situation and promptly provide necessary assistance to Chinese nationals in need, the spokesperson said, reminding Chinese nationals to take precautions against secondary hazards caused by the earthquake.

AGENCIES-XINHUA